Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Patterns of halite (NaCl) crystallisation in building stone conditioned by laboratory heating regimes

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Geology

Abstract

The crystallisation of soluble salts within the pores of the stone is widely recognised as a major mechanism causing the deterioration of the stone-built architectural heritage. Temperature, in turn, is one of the main controls on this process, including salt precipitation, the pressure of crystallisation and the thermal expansion of salts. Most laboratory experiments on decay generated by salts are just carried out with convective heating regimes, while in natural environments building stones can undergo radiative and convective heating regimes. The thermal response of stone to these different heating regimes is noticeably different and might influence the crystallisation patterns of a salt within a stone. The aim of this work is to raise awareness on the different patterns of crystallisation of NaCl within a porous stone tested with different heating regimes (convection and radiation) and the implications that this could have on the design of experimental modelling of natural weathering conditions in laboratory simulations. Results show that heating regime affects the sodium chloride distribution within a stone with high percentage of microporosity. In this case, radiation heating facilitates the generation of subefflorescences, while convection heating promotes efflorescences. This has a clear implication both on the stone decay in natural environments and on the methodologies for testing salt decay, as subefflorescences are more destructive than efflorescences. In this sense, the use of convective heating in laboratory experimentation might underestimate the potential damage that sodium chloride may generate. This counsels the use of radiation heating test methods in addition to convection for the laboratory study of salt crystallisation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • ASTM (1964) C218 Method of test for combined effect of temperature cycles and weak salt solution on natural building stone. ASTM, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania

  • ASTM (2000) E313–00 Standard practice for calculating yellowness and whiteness indices from instrumentally measure color coordinates. ASTM, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania

  • Benavente D (2003) Modelización y estimación de la durabilidad de materiales pétreos porosos frente a la cristalización de sales. Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/FichaObra.html?Ref = 12011 Last access: 15/06/2006

  • Benavente D, García del Cura MA, Bernabéu A, Ordoñez S (2001) Quantification of salt weathering in porous stones using an experimental continuous partial immersion method. Eng Geol 59:313–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CEN, (1999) EN 12370. Natural stone test methods—determination of resistance to salt crystallisation. Bruxelles

  • Cooke RU (1994) Salt weathering and the urban water table in deserts. In: Robinson DA, Williams RBG (eds) Rock weathering and landform evolution. Wiley, Chichester, pp193–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke RU, Smalley IJ (1968) Salt weathering in deserts. Nature 220:1226–1227

    Google Scholar 

  • Correns CW (1949) Growth and dissolution of crystals under linear pressure. Disc Faraday Soc 5:267–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fort R, Bernabeu A, García del Cura MA, López de Azcona MC, Ordoñez S, Mingarro F (2002) Novelda stone: widely used within the Spanish architectural heritage. Materiales de Construcción 52(266):19–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomez-Heras M (2006) Procesos y formas de deterioro térmico en piedra natural del patrimonio arquitectónico. Madrid: UCM, Servicio de Publicaciones. http://www.ucm.es/BUCM/tesis/geo/ucm-t28551.pdf Last access 15/06/06

  • Gomez-Heras M and Fort R (2002) Cámara automática para envejecimiento de materiales de construcción por insolación. In. Spanish patent, app n° 200201376: CSIC, p 19

  • Gomez-Heras M, Benavente D, Alvarez de Buergo M, Fort R (2004) Soluble salt minerals from pigeon droppings as potential contributors to the decay of stone based cultural heritage. Eur J Mineral 16:505–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomez-Heras M, Smith BJ, Fort R (2006) Surface temperature differences between minerals in crystalline rocks: implications for granular disaggregation of granites through thermal fatigue. Geomorphology 78(3–4):236–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomez-Heras M, Smith BJ, and Fort R (2006) Influence of surface heterogeneities of building granite on its thermal microenvironment and its potential for the generation of thermoclasty. Build Environ (in press)

  • Goudie AS (1974) Further experimental investigation of rock weathering by salt and other mechanical processes. Zeitschr. Geomorphologie N. F. Suppl. Bd. 21:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Goudie AS (1993) Salt weathering simulation using a single-immersion technique. Earth Surf Process Landf 18:369–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goudie AS, Viles HA (1995) The nature and pattern of debris liberation by salt weathering: a laboratory study. Earth Surf Process Landf 20:437–449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goudie AS, Viles HA (1997) Salt weathering hazards. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Griggs DT (1936) The factor of fatigue in rock exfoliation. J Geol 44:783–796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossi C.M, Esbert RM (1994) Las sales solubles en el deterioro de rocas monumentales; revisión bibliográfica. Materiales de Construcción. 44:15–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall K, Andre M-F (2003) Rock thermal data at the grain scale: applicability to granular disintegration in cold environments. Earth Surf Process Landf 28:823–836

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halsey DP, Mitchell DJ, Dews SJ (1998) Influence of climatically induced cycles in physical weathering. Quart J Eng Geol 31:359–367

    Google Scholar 

  • Houck J, Scherer GW (2006) Controlling stress from salt crystallization. In: Kourkoulis SK (ed) Fracture and failure of natural building stones. Proceedings of the international symposium on fracture and failure of natural building stones within the frame of the 16th European conference on fracture, Alexandroupolis, Hellas, July 2006. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands

  • López de Azcona MC, Mingarro F, Fort R (1996) Estudio Medioambiental en el Palacio Real de Madrid. Geogaceta 20:1155–1158

    Google Scholar 

  • McGreevy JP, Smith BJ (1982) Salt weathering in hot deserts: observations on the design of simulation experiments. Geografiska Annaler 65A:161–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peel RF (1974) Insolation weathering: some measurements of diurnal temperature changes in exposed rocks in the Tibesti region, central Sahara. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie N. F. Suppl. Bd. 21:19–28

    Google Scholar 

  • RILEM (1980) Recommended tests to measure the deterioration of stone and to assess the effectiveness of treatment methods (V-1a, V-1b, V-2). Mater Struct 75:175–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez-Navarro C, Doehne E (1999) Salt weathering: influence of evaporation rate, supersaturation and crystallization pattern. Earth Surf Process Landf 24:191–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaffer RJ (1932) The weathering of natural building stones. Building research establishment, Watford

  • Scherer GW (1999) Crystallisation in pores. Cement Concrete Res 29:1347–1358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner BJ (1966) Thermal expansion. In: Clark SP (ed) Handbook of physical constants.. Geological Society of America Memoir 97

  • Smith BJ (1977) Rock temperature measurements from the northwest Sahara and their implications for rock weathering. CATENA 4(1–2):41–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith BJ (1978) Aspect related variations in slope angle near Béni Abés.Western Algeria, Geografiska Annaler 60A:175–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith BJ, McGreevy JP (1988) Contour scaling of a sandstone by salt weathering under simulated hot desert conditions.Earth Surf Process Landf 13:697–706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith BJ, McGreevy JP, Whalley WB (1987) The production of silt-size quartz by experimental salt weathering of a sandstone. J Arid Environ 12:199–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith BJ, Warke PA, McGreevy JP, Kane HL (2005) Salt-weathering simulations under hot desert conditions: agents of enlightenment or perpetuators of preconceptions? Geomorphology 67(1–2):211–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sperling CHB, Cooke RU (1985) Laboratory simulation of rock weathering by salt crystallization and hydration processes in hot, arid environments. Earth Surf Process Landf 10(6):541–555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steiger M (2005) Crystal growth in porous materials–I: the crystallization pressure of large crystals. J Cryst Growth 282:455–469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunagawa I (1981) Characteristics of crystal growth in nature as seen from the morphology of mineral crystals. Bull de Minéralogie 104:81–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Warke PA, Smith BJ (1998) Effects of direct and indirect heating on the validity of rock weathering simulation studies and durability tests. Geomorphology 22(3–4):347–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warke PA, Smith BJ, Magee RW (1996) Thermal response characteristics of stone: implications for weathering of soiled surfaces in urban environments. Earth Surf Process Landf 21:295–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winkler EM (1973) Stone: properties, durability in man’s environment. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 230 pp

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was fully carried out at the Instituto de Geología Económica (CSIC-UCM). Support of the project MATERNAS_CM 0505/MAT/0094 (Madrid’s Regional Government, Spain) is gratefully acknowledged. We wish to thank Bateig Piedra Natural S.A. for supplying samples, Dr. M. Alvarez de Buergo for technical assistance and Dr. D. Benavente and Prof. B.J. Smith for their comments on the manuscript. We would also like to express our gratitude to Dr. Doerhoefer and another, anonymous, reviewer whose comments have been of great help for the improvement of this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN, UK

    Miguel Gomez-Heras

  2. Instituto de Geología Económica (CSIC-UCM), Facultad CC, Geológicas UCM, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Rafael Fort

Authors
  1. Miguel Gomez-Heras
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rafael Fort
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miguel Gomez-Heras.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gomez-Heras, M., Fort, R. Patterns of halite (NaCl) crystallisation in building stone conditioned by laboratory heating regimes. Environ Geol 52, 259–267 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0538-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0538-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation